Qatar: Quash conviction of British-Mexican national sentenced to six-month suspended prison term in grossly unfair trial

The authorities in Qatar must quash the conviction of British-Mexican national Manuel Guerrero Aviña, who was sentenced to a suspended six-month prison-term and a fine following a grossly unfair trial before the Al Sadd Criminal Court in the capital, Doha, Amnesty International, FairSquare, and National AIDS Trust said today. The Qatari authorities detained Guerrero Aviña without charge for over six weeks, interrogated him about his sexual relations and subjected him to ill-treatment on the basis of his sexual orientation and his HIV positive status. Security forces in plain-clothes arrested Guerrero Aviña, who had been living in Doha for seven years and worked for Qatar Airways, on 4 February, shortly after he agreed to meet another man through Grindr, a gay dating app. His family told Amnesty International that they believe the online profile of the person he agreed to meet was fake and had been created by law enforcement officials to entrap him. The authorities subsequently charged him with possession of drugs and other drug-related offences, charges that he denies. “The Qatari authorities must overturn Mr Guerrero Aviña’s outrageous conviction and lift his travel ban. There are serious fears that Guerrero Aviña was targeted for his sexual orientation and was coerced into providing the authorities with information that they could use to pursue a wider crackdown on LGBTI individuals in Qatar,” said Aya Majzoub, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. “Guerrero Aviña’s treatment in custody and his unfair trial was utterly horrific. Instead of convicting people after unfair proceedings, Qatar’s authorities must urgently end the discrimination and persecution of people based on their sexual orientation and gender identities and repeal all laws that discriminate against LGBTI people.”